MULTILAYER LAMINATE

Technical field

This invention relates to a multilayer laminate.

In particular, the invention relates to a multilayer laminate which applies to the fashion sector and, more specifically, to the production of fashion accessories (bags, handbags), clothing, footwear or furniture. Background art

The need is increasingly felt in the fashion sector to provide new products which, on the one hand, replace the textile products or leather goods which have been well known for many years and, on the other hand, to propose innovative solutions, also in order to meet another strongly felt need, that is to say, the recycling of materials which have finished their first use.

In this regard, laminates have been known for some years made of plastic material in place of standard textile products or leather goods.

These laminates, whilst, on the one hand, they the finished product a new appearance and possibly special technical characteristics of the plastic material used (for example, impermeable to water), on the other hand they have significant drawbacks.

A first major drawback of prior art laminates is due to the fact that these laminates are difficult to stitch. In fact, items of clothing, for example, made with these prior art laminates, frequently have, after a small number of uses, sealing problems precisely in the proximity of the stitching applied on them.

Another drawback of prior art plastic laminates is that they are very light, that is to say, they have a very low basic weight per metre.

Without prejudice to the above-mentioned problems relating to the ability to stitch, the considerable lightness does not allow the stylists to use these prior art plastic laminates for making garments or accessories such as, for example, bags and handbags, unless they are suitable for the summer season.

Aim of the invention

The aim of this invention is to provide a multilayer laminate which is able to overcome the drawbacks of the prior art and which is at the same time practical to use and simple and inexpensive to make.

A further aim of the invention is to provide a multilayer laminate having a high basic weight per metre and which is able to be perfectly stitched using traditional sewing machines.

A further aim of the invention is to provide a multilayer laminate in which it is possible to re-use plastic material which has already finished its first cycle of use, such as, for example, waste collection bags. According to the invention, these aims and others are achieved by a multilayer laminate comprising the technical features described in the accompanying claims. Brief description of the drawings

The technical features of the invention, with reference to the above-mentioned aims, are clearly described in the appended claims and its advantages are apparent from the detailed description which follows, with reference to the accompanying drawings which illustrate a non limiting example embodiment of the invention and in which:

- Figure 1 is a schematic cross-section view of an embodiment of a multilayer laminate made in accordance with the invention.

Detailed description of preferred embodiments of the invention

As illustrated in Figure 1, the numeral 1 denotes in its entirety an embodiment of a multilayer laminate made according to the invention.

The multilayer laminate 1 according to the invention comprises at least a first layer 2 and a second layer 3 made of plastic material at least partly thermofused together and a base layer 4 on which the first layer 2 and the second layer 3 made of plastic material are connected in a non-removable fashion.

Advantageously, the first layer 2 and the second layer 3 are made of the same plastic material, preferably recycled polyethylene or PLA (polylactic or polylactide acid).

According to another embodiment, on the other hand, the materials of the first layer 2 and of the second layer 3 are different to each other.

The base layer 4 is advantageously a textile product. For example, preferably, the base layer 4 comprises a layer of Vlieseline textile.

The Vlieseline textile is a supporting structure made of a cloth which may be thermo-adhesive or stitchable on the above-mentioned layers 2, 3 of plastic material. It may also advantageously be made of fabric, non-woven fabric or mesh, leather or environmental leather. According to the invention, other solutions of the base layer 4 included, for example, a layer of rubber, foam rubber or any material suitable for imparting an adequate structure to the layers 2, 3 made of plastic material and which makes them stitchable using a conventional sewing machine.

Advantageously, moreover, the base layer 4 may be made of a biodegradable and/or compostable material such as, for example, PLA.

The thermofusion of the first layer 2 and of the second layer 3 is performed by using suitable heating means (for example, a suitable press or a conventional iron) set at a temperature of between 100° and 250° for a predetermined time.

Depending on the heating means used, the above-mentioned temperature must be maintained for a time of between approximately 5 seconds and 600 seconds (10 minutes). Advantageously, moreover, the first layer 2 and/or the second layer 3 made of plastic material are made from waste collection bags.

Advantageously, the above-mentioned bags come from points for the collection of bags already used and during recycling or from firms in the sector for recycling bags. The first layer 2 and/or the second layer 3 also advantageously come from recycled plastic film manufacturers .

If plastic bags are used, these do not need to be kept in the original form of a bag or of a single sheet but they may also be in the condition of chopped bags, that is to say, in the form of strips of material.

Preferably, during the step of thermofusion of the first layer 2 onto the second layer 3 made of plastic material, the layers are protected by a further temporary layer made of paper-based material coated with silicone particles with non-stick coating functions.

The above-mentioned protection layer is removed once the thermofusion step has been completed, leaving the first layer 2 made of plastic material as a visible layer of the multilayer laminate 1 according to the invention. Advantageously and with reference to Figure 1, the connection between the first layer 2 and the second layer 3 with the base layer 4 occurs by stitching 5. Alternatively, or in addition to the above-mentioned stitching 5, the connection between the first layer 2 and the second layer 3 with the base layer 4 is accomplished by using a suitable adhesive at ambient or thermo-adhesive temperature.

Advantageously, the adhesive is not applied on the entire surface of the base layer 4 but only on single points, for example following the shape of a mould.

In this way, it is possible to considerably reduce the amount of adhesive needed for the fixing and its economic impact on the finished product.

According to another embodiment, the above-mentioned connection between the first layer 2 and the second layer 3 with the base layer 4 occurs by thermofusion.

The total absence of adhesive in the latter solution allows the overall costs of the finished product to be further reduced. The multilayer laminate 1 according to the invention brings important advantages, overcoming the drawbacks of the prior art.

More specifically, the multilayer laminate 1 according to the invention makes it possible to obtain basic weights per metre which are high and determined by the manufacturer, that is to say, it allows items of clothing to be made, such as bags or handbags, items of footwear comprising stitching without these causing defects to the finished product over time.

A further advantage consists in providing a new method of re-using plastic material, giving it a second life cycle, that is to say, preventing the global increase in pollution by plastic material.